The childhood disorders of glia comprise a group of diseases that include the pediatric leukodystrophies and lysosomal storage disorders, cerebral palsies and perinatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathies, and selected neurodevelopmental disorders of glial origin. Essentially, all of these disorders are associated with oligodendrocytic failure and dysmyelination, whether congenital or progressive, and most are attended by astrocytic dysfunction as well. In light of the wide range of disorders to which glial dysfunction and demyelination may contribute, and the relative homogeneity of glial progenitor cells (GPCs) and their derivatives, the glial disorders may be uniquely attractive targets for cell-based therapeutic strategies, and the pediatric disorders especially so. As a result, GPCs, which can distribute throughout the neuraxis and give rise to new astrocytes and myelinogenic oligodendrocytes, have become of great interest as candidates for the therapeutic restoration of normal glial architecture and function, as well as new myelin, to the pediatric brain.